Khang Nguyen

Rediscovering the joy of reading


When was the last time you held a book in your hands? Felt the tactile sheets of paper flit through your fingers as you turn a page? Lost yourself in the world painted by the author?

I’m sure a lot of smart people have lots to say about the benefits of reading but me being a remarkably ordinary fellow, all I have to offer is that books let you experience things that you would normally not have the opportunity to, and that’s awesome.

But sometimes people think reading takes too much time so they don’t. Here’s a hack: don’t finish the book if you don’t like it! Move on to something you’re more interested in, or that’s more relevant to you.

Some others may not know what to read. I think the best solution to this is start by asking your close friends what’s their favourite book of all time. Most of the time people have one such book, and are glad to recommend it.

Reading books today has become much easier with smartphones. Apple offers the Books app which has a built-in feel, and on Android you can go with Google’s Play Books app, which has a similar level of maturity.

On actually finding e-books to read, it’s always best to purchase books through reputable sources such as Amazon. Beware of sties that promise (and deliver) free epubs/PDFs of all kinds of books, such as libgen and z-lib.